{"podcast":{"title":"The Signal","slug":"the-signal-7024065","podcast_index_feed_id":7024065,"rss_url":"https://feeds.castos.com/4xqr8","website_url":"https://edtechconnect.castos.com","image_url":"https://episodes.castos.com/66cf7b74d67cb0-47099354/images/podcast/covers/c1a-mp079-qd154xrxu74q-t9z0us.jpg","author":"Jeff Dillon","episode_count":96,"summary":"With more than 450,000 downloads, The Signal is the definitive podcast for higher education’s transformation leaders. Hosted by Jeff Dillon, The Signal cuts through the noise of the \"status quo\" to bring you the strategic intelligence needed to reshape how institutions recruit, support, and retain students. Every Friday, we sit down with the practitioners and technology builders who are actively defining the next decade of campus life. Why Higher Ed Leaders Listen: In one of the most consequential periods for academia, we move past the hype to focus on Human-Centered Innovation. Our episodes feature deep-dive interviews with guest experts focusing on the \"real work\" of institutional evolution. Core Topics & AI Strategy: * Artificial Intelligence: Practical AI adoption, governance, and the \"Human in the Loop\" mindset. * Enrollment Marketing: Modern recruitment strategies and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). * Student Success: Data-driven retention, mental health, and digital engagement. * Institutional Transformation: Navigating digital transformation with a focus on workforce readiness and AVPs reimagining student care. Whether you are a C-suite leader, IT Director, or Facult…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-17T20:20:41.808526+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-signal-7024065"},"episode":{"title":"Ep. 85 - Jay Gonzalez: Guaranteeing ROI — How Curry College Is Reinventing the College Business Model","slug":"ep-85-jay-gonzalez-guaranteeing-roi-how-curry-college-is-reinventing-the-college-business-model","published_at":"2026-05-01T14:33:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-signal-7024065/ep-85-jay-gonzalez-guaranteeing-roi-how-curry-college-is-reinventing-the-college-business-model","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-signal-7024065","url":"https://edtechconnect.castos.com/episodes/ep-85-jay-gonzalez-guaranteeing-roi-how-curry-is-reinventing-the-college-business-model","audio_url":"https://episodes.castos.com/66cf7b74d67cb0-47099354/2424231/c1e-1w0v2fnn0k6ux1xkm-pkngw8w2cw0m-t0mqyy.mp3","summary":"What happens when a former gubernatorial candidate, healthcare CEO, and state budget director steps into the college president's office? You get a leader who doesn't accept \"that's how higher ed has always done it\" as an answer. In this episode, host Jeff Dillon sits down with Jay Gonzalez, the 15th president of Curry College—a leader whose resume looks nothing like a traditional academic career. From running a $32 billion state budget during the Great Recession to leading healthcare organizations and running for governor of Massachusetts, Gonzalez brings an outsider's perspective to one of higher ed's most pressing challenges: proving the ROI of a college degree. Gonzalez shares the story behind Curry's audacious job guarantee program, which promises students a job within six months of graduation—or the college pays their federal student loans for up to a year. He explains how Curry is investing in predictive analytics to identify at-risk students before they struggle, launching a new app to modernize the clunky student portal experience, and building a Neurodiversity Center for Excellence that's partnering with major employers. But perhaps most intriguingly, Gonzalez reveals Curry's Center for Innovation—an entrepreneurial arm designed to move fast, test new revenue streams, and partner with ed tech companies on product development. For small colleges feeling the squeeze of enrollment pressures and limited resources, this episode offers a playbook for thinking differently about sustainability, technology, and student success. Tune in for a conversation that challenges conventional wisdom about what college leadership can look like—and what colleges can achieve when they stop optimizing the old model and start reinventing it. Key Takeaways Nobody Is Totally in Charge—…","meta_description":"What happens when a former gubernatorial candidate, healthcare CEO, and state budget director steps into the college president's office? You get a leader…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1827,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-signal-7024065/episodes/ep-85-jay-gonzalez-guaranteeing-roi-how-curry-college-is-reinventing-the-college-business-model/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-signal-7024065/ep-85-jay-gonzalez-guaranteeing-roi-how-curry-college-is-reinventing-the-college-business-model.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}